Julie A. Fast's Blog, page 37

Pt. 1 Bipolar Disorder and ADHD Focus Problems

This is me at a sports bar testing my theory of tunnel glasses to counteract my ADHD style swivel head behavior when I have trouble focusing.

Trouble focusing on work because if bipolar disorder?

Me too! I had a talk with a professional coach last night who gave me some really good advice. I could hear the wisdom of his words. I believe what he says and I know I can do it and reach my work goals today- but I first have to manage this illness. I thought I would show you what it’s like. This is finally the second part of my Bipolar Disorder and ADD Focus Problems blog for BP Magazine. My motto is treat bipolar disorder first. My second motto? Keep going until things get done- who cares if it’s… yowza… almost one year later! Part one is below. I’ll on part two for the rest of the day and let you in on the process! Julie

Click here to read part one of my Bp Magazine Blog called Bipolar Disorder and ADD Focus Problems: A Day in the Life of a Swivel Head.

I’ll update this throughout the day. I want to work. It’s my life’s passion. Bipolar disorder does everything it can to make work difficult. Let’s see what I can accomplish today.

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Published on March 17, 2016 02:14

Just Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder?

Were you or a loved one just diagnosed with #bipolar disorder? It can be scary, but it can also be liberating. Now you know why you have acted a certain way… and now you can learn to control your brain and get your life back. Here’s a post to help you get through the shock of hearing the words, “You have bipolar disorder.”

I was diagnosed at age 31. It explained years and years of unexplainable behavior. I now see my diagnosis as a get out of jail card. I was out of control- confused and very, very unhappy for years due to the symptoms of this illness. When I found out the WHY, I was able to change my life. I wish you luck if you were just diagnosed. You can get better. You can survive. You can reach your dreams and goals. I believe in you!

Click here for a link to read more about the bipolar disorder diagnosis. You are going to be ok.

Julie

My main book on bipolar disorder is called Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder. It’s a good start for anyone affected by the illness to set a foundation for healing and learning to live with the illness while loving your life.

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Published on March 14, 2016 02:34

Does Your Partner Have Bipolar Disorder?

A reader, Ruth just left the following comment about her relationship with her partner who was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder:

I am 55. My husband is also 55. He is just being diagnosed with bipolar. It explains so much. But he has never been in a depressive state. He has spent over $30k since the first of January – arrested 3 times for drunk and disorderly – he has virtually every symptom of bipolar except depression

Here is my reply:

Hello Ruth,

There are forms of bipolar disorder where the person has more mania than depression. I suggest reading about dysphoric mania. Many people with heavy mania express their depression in a mixed episode- also called dysphoric mania. You can type in “mania” in the subject search to learn more. My book Take Charge of Bipolar Disorder also explains the different types of mania. Loving Someone with Bipolar Disorder is my book for partners such as yourself. The book will help you learn about his mania before it gets to the point that he is spending this much money. I used to be a big manic spender as well. We can learn to manage our money when we have bipolar disorder. I always suggest that partners of people with bipolar disorder protect themselves from the manic spending of someone with the illness.

You will now be able to look back and see his spending patterns over a lifetime- when we are diagnosed later in life, so many things become clear. He will need time to adjust. When I was diagnosed, there was a lot of grief. I lost so many years to this illness. We need time to adjust after a diagnosis. Here is a link to an article about the bipolar disorder diagnosis:

I’m glad you are online and finding information. You are not alone.

Julie

**

I have bipolar disorder and am always honest with everyone in my life about my manic spending. Here are a few pictures of manic spending in full bloom! I work hard to keep my mania under control. It’s WAY TOO EXPENSIVE to be manic!

I have a pen and drawing pad manic tendency- this isn’t too expense, so if I’m really hypomanic, I allow myself to buy pens. It’s embarrassing to show people the results of manic episodes- but pens are pretty benign! Wild manic spending sprees that involved traveling, men, drinking and spending money like I had a money tree are in the past. If you have bipolar disorder, how do you manage your manic spending? If you’re a partner of a person with bipolar disorder, how do you protect your finances from the behaviors of the person you love?

Good questions. I dress all of this in my book Loving. I wrote this after being in a relationship with a wonderful man who has bipolar disorder one. He is such an important person in my life. When two people in a relationship have bipolar disorder, a strong management plan is essential!

Julie

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Published on March 14, 2016 02:30

Bipolar Disorder Affecting Your Relationships?

You are not alone! I often read through my past articles for Bp Magazine. I’m reminded that my bipolar disorder management plan is daily. I just moved to Europe. I’m staying with a friend in a beautiful, quite and very remote English village. Well, remote in my city girl way of thinking! I planned carefully for this move. I did all I needed to do to prepare MYSELF. Well guess what? The biggest skills I needed when I got here were my relationship skills! What are your greatest strengths as a friend? Julie

Here is the start of the article called Bipolar and the Relationship Trap from Bp Magazine:

Recently, a friend asked me, “Julie, why don’t you write a book about bipolar disorder and relationships?” “I already did that with my first book for couples where one person has bipolar,” I replied. “I don’t mean couples, Julie!” he exclaimed. “I mean friendships. I can’t seem to keep any friends.”

I know what my friend—a man in his late 30s who struggles with bipolar disorder—meant by this statement. Like me, he wanted good relationships, but often found that bipolar got in the way. In the years after I was finally diagnosed with bipolar in 1995, I managed to lose almost all my friends because of my neediness, irritation, paranoia, medication side effects, and more. In 2001, I hit rock bottom when I received a letter from my best friend (I’ll call her “Melissa”) that changed my life forever. While it was terribly hard to read, this letter ,in fact, saved my future relationships.

Melissa and I had been friends since high school; I was always the aggressive force in the relationship. As my illness got progressively worse, I became weak while she became strong. She started sticking up for herself; I, on the other hand, began to sink into a hole of depression that seemed inescapable. I called Melissa constantly and complained about my life. When she didn’t respond the way I wanted, I became paranoid and angry, telling her she wasn’t a good friend.

An unwelcome look at ‘relationship killers’…… click below to keep reading.

Click here to read the whole article from Bp Magazine.

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Published on March 10, 2016 02:18

Tips for Managing Bipolar Disorder Anxiety

Bipolar disorder and anxiety: One never knows what bipolar disorder will thrown in our direction. I knew that my move to Europe would be exciting, but I also knew it would have its challenges. I didn’t know what symptom would turn up. I of course hoped that no symptoms would arise and I would just get on with my life. Ah, bipolar disorder isn’t kind to me.

This time it’s anxiety.

I have an anxiety disorder along with my bipolar disorder- this means that I have anxiety even when I’m not manic or depressed. My mood in terms of those mood swings is very stable, but I have be dealing with paranoid psychosis and anxiety. It leads to the question- do people who have an anxiety disorder- without bipolar disorder- have paranoia? I’m very interested to explore this topic.

My bipolar disorder is awful. It wants to control my life. But guess what. I am here in England. I am thriving- that is a word I don’t really like, but it does describe how I feel. I wish that my days were about work and life and having fun, right now that is not the case. My current days are about getting my anxiety under control. If you have anxiety, it’s normal. It’s difficult to manage and it sucks, but it’s normal if you have a brain disorder. I listened to two excellent videos for help this morning. I loved them both. I have put them below!

We have bipolar disorder. So what! So freaking what! We can control it and live our dreams. Rock on!

Julie

PS: That’s me in the pub across the street. Bullseye!

Tapping with Brad Yates:

Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click Here!

Click here for a deep examination of anxiety with Eckhart Tolle.

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Published on March 09, 2016 03:30

Bipolar Anxiety and Travel

Bipolar Disorder, Travel and Anxiety. Hello from England. The first stop on my European adventure. I made a video from Cambridge yesterday about bipolar disorder and anxiety. It took me a few hours to deal with the anxiety, but I definitely got through it and had a good experience. We can travel when we have bipolar disorder! Julie

Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click Here!

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Published on March 09, 2016 03:00

Mental Illness and Violent Behavior: An opinion from Julie A. Fast

(c) The Wordsworth Trust; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Violence and mental illness: There has been another shooting in the United States. This time in Kansas. I no longer even have to wait for police reports to know if the shooter is mentally ill. No one in their right mind gets a gun and kills innocent people- thus, someone who opens fire on innocent people is mentally unwell in my mind. I notice that Obama, whom I support fully in many areas has given $1 billion dollars to cancer research. It’s the same old story- cancer gets the funds and the mentally ill keep killing and dying. It’s estimated that 500,000 a year die from cancer. It’s estimated that around 50,000 die from suicide. We know those numbers are low- many people with mental illness die and it goes un-reported. I’d like to see a study that shows the % of money that goes to cancer vs. the amount that goes to mental illness research and prevention. If anyone has this answer, please post it below.

If we want to stop the extreme violence problem in the US regarding shooters of innocent people, we need to fund mental health research. As seen by the knifing in China and the sword killing of innocent people in Sweden, both by killers with a history of mental illness- guns are NOT THE PROBLEM. They make it easier and I fully support a measure that makes it hard for people with mental health disorders to get guns, but people who are sick will find a stick if nothing else is available. (No need to argue with me about this- I have a mental illness and I fully support the need for extra care to help us when we are not in our right minds- such as when I am manic and psychotic. I will respect your opinion on this and please feel free to state it below, but let’s stay civil and change the world and not fight with each other.)

Of course cancer needs funding, but it seems to be at the expense of mental health every time.

When I feel overwhelmed by all of this, I’m reminded that we are an advanced society going through a regression all over the world involving violence and human intolerance. We have been here before. Here is a poem ….. from the year 1802. Humans are what we are- we can change, but we seem to start at a baseline of needing to change the minute we are born into today’s world. What can I do to help the world? What can you do to help the world? What can we do as a team to help the world? My answer is simply: fund mental health care and end the preposterous mental health system with its HIPPA rules and out of date psychiatrists and treatment centers and move forward with FUNDING and care that works. If we can do this with great success with cancer, we can do it with mental illness.

Please share your opinion. Write as much as you like. Let’s talk about this. Let’s share our ideas.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

And now the poem. I’d love to know what you think of this poem and how it reflects our world today.

Julie

The World Is Too Much With Us

BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

***

PS: No matter what, I am an optimist. I believe that as a group- those of use with bipolar disorder can educate and change the world. Join me!

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Published on February 26, 2016 05:58

What is Dysphoric Mania in Bipolar Disorder?

The main difference between Bipolar I and Bipolar II is the type of mania. Bipolar I has full blown mania- Bipolar II has hypomania. Bipolar II never has full blown mania- if it happens, the diagnosis is changed to Bipolar I. People with Bipolar I can definitely get hypomanic as well as fully manic!

Euphoric and dysphoric mania…..

There are two types of mania seen in both Bipolar I and Bipolar II : euphoric mania and dysphoric mania . Euphoric is just like it sounds. Dysphoric is harder to understand as we are not used to the word! Dysphoric mania means agitated mania. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling!

There is a lot of mental and physical agitation with dysphoric mania , but a person in this mood swing can be very aggressive and even violent. There are always sleep problems – the person looks haggard and worn out. They may sweat a lot and can look pretty wild in the face. I went through this with my former partner Ivan. He was in a dysphoric mania/psychotic episode for many months. He doesn’t get euphoric mania very often.

I’ve always felt this picture depicts what it’s like to be in a dysphoric and psychotic manic episode:

Whew. This illness is very complicated. If you have bipolar disorder, what kind of mania do you experience the most? If you care about someone with the illness, how would you describe their mania?

I have bipolar II hypomania. I mainly dealt with euphoric mania from age 17 until I was in my 40s. Then the dysphoric mania hit me hard! I force myself to get help when the euphoric mania is here. It’s hard to ask for help during dysphoric mania as you feel like everyone else is the problem.

It takes a lot of practice and self awareness to acknowledge and get help for bipolar mania! But we can change our lives for the better by understanding the signs of dysphoric mania and using a plan to stop the mood swing before it goes too far.

Julie

PS: My absolute worst dysphoric manic episode happened when I tried medical marijuana after dislocating my pelvis in a biking accident. I write a lot about this experience and hope that we can all be aware of external substances that can lead to dysphoric mania and psychosis in people with bipolar disorder.

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Published on January 24, 2016 02:59

MASTERCLASS: Bipolar Disorder and Marijuana is open for registration

BIPOLAR DISORDER AND MARIJUANA: A Course for Parents, Partners, Bipolar Disorder Educators and Health Care Professionals with Julie A. Fast

Date: Wednesday, January 20th, 2016

Time: 8:30- 10:00 AM PST

11:30 AM- 1:00 PM EST

Masterclass Format: 90 Minute Live Webinar

Click here to view the embedded video.

Cost: $129.95

Early Access $90

Early access registration until January 18th. Class size is limited.

ABOUT THE MASTERCLASS

Over half of my coaching business now involves a person with bipolar disorder who is having an adverse bipolar disorder reaction to marijuana. All of my bipolar disorder presentations now have a full section on the effects of pot use on people with bipolar disorder. I realized a few years ago that if I wanted to teach families and health care professionals help people with bipolar disorder, I had to come up with a plan to calmly educate the person with this illness about pot and show my clients and audience members how to approach the topic with a plan that works. This 90 minute masterclass includes a lively history of marijuana use and how it can interact with bipolar disorder, a system to identify the symptoms of an adverse reaction to pot in someone with bipolar disorder and a full treatment plan to use immediately to help a person with bipolar disorder make informed decisions about marijuana use.

MEET THE TEACHER

My name is Julie A. Fast. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder two with psychotic features in 1995. I’m a four time bestselling author on the topic of bipolar disorder, schizo affective disorder and psychosis. I work as a family and partner coach and regularly train health care professionals on bipolar disorder management. I have worked with companies, mental health agencies and treatment facilities around the world to change the way bipolar disorder is treated and managed. I lived with a partner for ten years who has bipolar disorder one. I’m an original columnist for Bp Magazine, a regular contributor to magazines such as People, US and Newsweek and have devoted my life to helping people manage bipolar disorder successfully.

I’m excited to share my research and personal experience around the often emotional topic of bipolar disorder and marijuana use. We can learn the facts, face the challenges of this difficult topic and offer alternatives to those who need help managing their use of the drug. I have bipolar disorder and fully understand the need to self medicate- to calm down and to escape the mood swings. There is no judgement here. I smoked way too much pot in the 80s to ever judge someone for their choices. I’m committed to finding a reasonable and heart felt way to dealing with this significant and growing problem in the mental health world. Join me and be part of the answer.

Click here to read a full class description and to register for the January 20th live event.

I hope you can join me! Please leave any questions you have in the comments section below.

Julie

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Published on January 13, 2016 14:01

Master Class Announcement: Bipolar Disorder, Psychosis and Marijuana

I’m posting a link to join my new January 20th Master Class later this evening. It’s called Bipolar Disorder, Psychosis and Marijuana. I’m excited to finally share my knowledge with the general public. The class is for parents, partners, health care professionals and bipolar disorder educators.

As many of you know, I work as a coach for parents and partners of loved ones with bipolar disorder and schizo affective disorder. I also train health care professionals including psychiatrists on the bipolar disorder topic. In the past four years, my work has changed profoundly- I had to learn about today’s pot and how it affects those of us with the illness simply because well over 50% of my clients need the information and all of the health care professionals I meet have a similar need.

My coaching and trainings now must include this information as marijuana use in bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder is a fact of our lives.

In 2012, the topic went from a professional need to a personal concern.

My position is unique in that I used medical marijuana on two occasions to help with pain from a bike accident in 2012 where I dislocated my pelvis, cracked a vertebrae and had a head injury. My knowledge on the topic deepened overnight.

My position on pot and bipolar is not political. This Master Class is for education and not politics. I believe in the use of cannabis for health reasons- but… and this is a big caveat, the reality of our bipolar brains means that we must learn the effects that marijuana can have on our mood swings before we make a decision to put weed in our bodies. Parents, partners, health care professionals and bipolar educators can learn how to help someone who is having bipolar disorder symptoms due to marijuana use in a safe and educational way.

Let’s work together to educate the world on this topic- without political agendas- without judgement and with an open heart to educate and help the mental health world stay stable.

Please ask any questions you have in the comments section and look for the link to join the Master Class later today. (Space is limited.)

Julie

PS: Bonus news- this Master Class will be available at no cost for those who attending my When Love is Not Enough tele seminar last year! Details will arrive by email.

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Published on January 12, 2016 09:35